A feature of Greater Grays Harbor, Inc. (GGHI) is to provide business assistance and resource referral. This monthly Business Assistance Briefing is to share relevant and timely resources to support your business, regardless of size.
In today's world it can be hard to navigate the waters when it comes to running your business, gaining access to capital, permitting, marketing woes, workforce needs, or just getting started – GGHI is here to assist.
Entrepreneur Academy
If you are thinking about starting a business in Washington State, you are in the right place. Experts from around the state have created an academy where you can master the skills needed to be a successful business owner, from producing the initial idea to avoiding those pesky beginner's mistakes.
Best of all, there is no cost to you. So, what are you waiting for? A lifetime of learning is waiting for you in the Academy. The Entrepreneur Academy was created by the Washington State Department of Commerce to teach the skills needed to be a successful business owner. Starting and running your own business can be one of the most rewarding things you can do in life. Believing that every resident has the right to a living wage job and equal access to education, training and support, Commerce created the Academy.
Click here to learn more about the Academy
AJAC – Advanced Manufacturing Apprenticeships
Over the past 13 years, AJAC has built one of the largest statewide instructional workforces of industry professionals and subject matter experts, with the vast majority of our 60 part-time instructors currently working in the aerospace and advanced manufacturing industries. Most of these instructors teach our apprenticeship classes in the evening and/or weekends, allowing them to continue to work in industry during the day (and helping to ensure that our classroom instruction remains current to the changing needs of these industries).
AJAC has worked diligently to create and implement industry-driven curriculum for the different occupations that we provide registered apprenticeship training. By working with employers, subject matter experts, and educational partners, AJAC can provide high quality, relevant curriculum that our instructors provide in over 40 unique classroom settings each quarter at community colleges, high schools, and regional skill centers.
Discover more about AJAC here.
Small Business Resiliency Network
Partners of the Small Business Resiliency Network (SBRN) provide culturally and linguistically relevant assistance and other business support services at no cost to entrepreneurs, small businesses and nonprofits – with an emphasis on those owned by historically marginalized and underserved persons – throughout Washington.
Click here to check out WA State Department of Commerce Resiliency Network.
Employer-Provided Childcare Tax Credit
If you provide childcare services to your employees, you may be eligible for this general business credit. It covers qualified expenditures for a childcare facility and for childcare resource and referral.
The Employer-Provided Childcare Credit offers employers a tax credit up to $150,000 per year to offset 25% of qualified childcare facility expenditures and 10% of qualified childcare resource and referral expenditures.
The employer-provided childcare credit is limited to $150,000 per year. It equals 25% of the qualified childcare facility expenditures plus 10% of the qualified childcare resource and referral expenditures you pay or incur during the tax year.
The credit is an incentive for taxpayers to provide childcare services to their employees.
Click here to check out the tax credit.
Greater Grays Harbor hosts a Business Assistance page on our website that provides a lengthy list of resources related to startups and other business support.
We are happy to have a meeting with you to discuss business needs and how to navigate the vast resource network. Please reach out to Loretta Thomas, Director for Business Development at GGHI if you have questions or need some guidance along your business journey.